“The largest fall in university applications in more than 30 years has seen the number of candidates applying to study law drop by a record 5.2 per cent, according to figures released by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).”

In February of this year the Inner Temple Library produced a revised edition of Transcripts of Judicial Proceedings in England and Wales: a guide to sources.

Since that edition was published a number of changes caused by the creation of Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, and of the new government web portal, Justice, have affected the currency of some of the content. The information in the Guide has been updated, and is now, as far as possible, correct as at 1 July 2011.

“Guidance issued by the Charity Commission for England and Wales included errors of law in respect of the public benefit requirement contained in the Charities Act 2006 on independent schools which charged fees. Whether the public benefit requirement was satisfied depended on the facts of each case. The correct approach was to look at what a trustee, acting in the interests of the community as a whole, would do in all the circumstances of the particular school under consideration and to ask what provision ought to be made once the threshold of benefit going beyond the de minimis or token level had been met. There was no reason why the provision of scholarships or bursaries to students who could pay some, but not all, of the fees should not be seen as for the public benefit. Provided that the operation of the school was seen as being for the public benefit, with an appropriate level of benefit for the poor, a subsidy to the not so well off was to be taken account of in the public benefit.”

“Why is there not more gender diversity at the top of the legal ­profession? What can be done to nurture and encourage female ­talent and, more importantly, accommodate women’s needs and perspectives at the highest ­echelons of the sector? Can you be both a feminist and a judge?”

“In a speech to a legal audience at London’s Lincoln Inn this evening, the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC MP, said that the benefits of remaining within the Convention and retaining our position as a leader of the international community are seen by the government to be fundamental to our national interest.”

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